Writer sues The Tetris Company and Apple for allegedly copying his book to make a movie

Tetris is one of the most iconic and influential video games in the gaming industry. The story about its creation is also really compelling and it was told for the first time on small screens when its movie debuted on AppleTV+ this year. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and the audience during its premiere. However, the film and its creators are currently in the eye of the media due to copying allegations. 

Dan Ackerman, editor-in-chief of the tech-news website Gizmodo, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on Monday, August 7. The editor stated that the film’s script was based on his book “The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized the World,” released back in 2016. The book describes the Soviet history of the Tetris game and the battles the game went through for global licensing rights.

In this line, Ackerman assured that the movie took numerous sections and specific events from the book to adapt them into the movie. Reportedly, the legal document details 22 examples of movie scenes that are similar to fragments in his book. Regarding this, Ackerman’s attorney, Kevin Landau stated that the lawsuit “aims to right a wrong and provide the respect and justice to the work, diligence, and ownership of someone who is entitled to such respect and acknowledgment under the law.”

According to Ackerman, a pre-release copy of his book was sent to the CEO of The Tetris Company, Maya Rogers. Unfortunately, the company declined the acquisition to obtain the rights based on his story and he was even threatened to be sued if he attempted to make his own TV series or films. Similarly, the writer affirms that both Rogers and screenwriter Noah Pink took events from the book which were too “similar in almost all material respects” to his own work.

The writer is now suing Apple and the Tetris company for copyright infringement, unfair competition, and illegally interfering with his business relations. If he wins the case, he would be awarded with 4.8 million dollars . This amount represents over 6% of the Tetris film’s total budget.